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Kent Teacher of the Year Awards: NQT of the Year 2019

We are so proud to be a sponsor for the NQT of the Year award, one of the Kent Teacher of the Year Awards.

This year the award has gone to a CCCU alumna, Harriet Burrowes! (pictured above with Julie Evans) who recently finished the BA (Hons) Primary Education.

Harriet has told us a bit about her journey to becoming NQT of the Year and how she feels about being shortlisted:
“I studied Primary Education at Canterbury Christ Church University. Before university, I knew I wanted to be a primary school teacher but I couldn’t actually imagine myself as a teacher. I never thought I’d be ready to take on a whole class, let alone being shortlisted for a NQT of the year award!

However, I looked back in my third year of university and I realised how ready I felt to step into my first classroom as a teacher. Without me realising it, my course and tutors at CCCU had gradually nurtured and supported me so well that I felt completely confident and comfortable. The university helped me throughout my degree and I have still been able to rely on them for advice and support even after I graduated.

Right now I am currently a Year 4 class teacher in Kent. I have been able to draw upon my experience from placements, advice from tutors, all alongside the seminars and lectures from over the three years of my course. This has helped me hugely in my practice as a teacher. I survived Ofsted in one of my first weeks, mentored a CCCU student teacher who is on placement in my class and am now looking forward to my second year of teaching.

I feel astonished and honoured that I have been shortlisted as the NQT of the year!”

Congratulations, Harriet! We are so #CCCUProud of you!

We won! Faculty project wins Times Higher Education International Impact Award

We are thrilled that the Faculty of Education has won the Times Higher Education (THE) Award for International Impact.  Pictured above is Tony Mahon, Faculty Director for International Development, as he accepted our award at the ceremony in London.

The Awards, which have been described as the ‘Oscars of UK Higher Education’, recognise the exceptional achievements of individuals, teams and institutions in the higher education sector.

Funded by the World Bank and working in collaboration with the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education and six universities in Palestine, the Teacher Education Improvement Project aims to enhance the quality of both pre-service and in-service teacher training throughout the sector.  This involves a wide-ranging programme of curriculum renewal, enhancement of academic staff capacity, mentor development and upgrading teaching competences of practising teachers.

The successful project has been running since 2011, and in 2015 it received further funding from the World Bank to allow for its expansion onto a national scale.

At a recent national education conference in Palestine, representatives of the World Bank held the project up as a beacon for teacher education reform in the region, with one representative commenting that it was the most successful project he has been involved in during his 29 years of working in 15 countries.

The judges of Award praised the fact that the programme has been “recognised by the World Bank for excellence and for its potential to be replicated in other regions where teacher training is an essential component of strengthening higher education systems.”

Tony Mahon, Project Director and Faculty Director for International Development, said: “To win the THE Award for International Impact is more than I could ever have hoped for this project.  Working in Palestine has been an amazing journey.  It is tremendous recognition that our team, in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education and partner universities in Palestine and with the support of the World Bank, has made such a significant contribution to reforming the entire teacher education system in Palestine that will have an impact for years to come.  I am both humbled and proud of the achievement and recognition.”

Find out more about the project on the World Bank website.

Hearing children’s voices

Ralph Leighton, Senior Lecturer on the PGCE Secondary in the Faculty of Education, reflects on children’s voices in the run up to the Universal Children’s Day:

Children’s voice should be children’s voices. While school councils give some children the opportunity to express themselves, most are excluded from contributing. My research, with Laila Nielsen, Jönköping University, Sweden, shows that many young people feel excluded from full citizenship, in school and in society. Their circumstances are described by Yuval-Davis’ concept of intersectionality, that membership of various collectivities often leads to conflict between formal (official) and real (experienced) circumstances. The school students we interviewed identified gender, ethnicity, social class, income, sexuality and age as differently interrelated and interpreted so that what they are told will happen is not always what they experience. This leads to the concept of human capabilities proposed by Sen and by Nussbaum, that it is all very well saying people have equal rights but they do not have equal access to those rights. Students see teachers, parents, politicians treating some groups less favourably than others, and feel powerless to intervene as they are regarded as naïve children. The space between the FBVs of Prevent and children’s daily experiences of lack of tolerance, of unequal application of rules, of a lack of democratic accountability, and of limits on their expression of opinions is regularly remarked upon.

Read Ralph’s article on citizenship education:

Nielsen, L. and Leighton, R. (2017) What are the gender, class and ethnicity of citizenship? A study of upper secondary school students’ views on citizenship education in England and Sweden. Confero. ISSN 2001-4562.

My experience as a student with dyslexia

After completing a music degree at Canterbury Christ Church University, Eleanor decided to do a PGCE Secondary (Music) at the University to pursue a career in teaching. Eleanor shares her experience as a teacher training student with dyslexia.

How I got into teaching

I heard about getting into teaching when I was doing my undergraduate degree. Emily Sayers and Vanessa Young came into our lectures to talk about teaching music, so I started to think about it.

I always wanted to teach but was told at school that I wouldn’t be able to do anything with my life. I’m dyslexic and was told I was stupid and lazy. I decided that I wanted to become a teacher to encourage children who struggle with academia and to say to them you can do it, you’re not stupid, you just need a little bit of help.

My PGCE study so far

I really like the physical side of curriculum studies sessions. With music everyone is doing something, there isn’t a single lesson that doesn’t involve singing, dancing or playing. We take it in turns to run a half hour mini-lesson. One lesson we took our shoes and socks off and learnt to walk, we were moving in time together and getting a sense of each other and doing clapping rhythms. We’re able to take these activities into school and use them with the kids.

Support at Christ Church

It’s not just the support you get from the staff but you also get a lot of support from your peers. Someone might have heard something in a school that gets passed on that you can use in your own teaching and your own life. I always come out of a lecture feeling happier and more physically well.

My future career

Eventually I want to be a special educational needs adviser or co-coordinator, so my course will help me understand about children and how they learn. I want to be teaching for the rest of my life and to help children who may not get help anywhere else.

I think it’s important that every child is supported, it’s just as important to encourage high ability children as it is low ability children.  High ability children also need to see that support is available and doing the PGCE will give me ways to support them. I’ve already learnt so many behavioural techniques, behaviour management is such a complex thing.

My advice for anyone with dyslexia wanting to become a teacher

Don’t let anyone stop you! I think dyslexic music teachers make good teachers because they can see it from the view of children who find it difficult to learn. They find it easier to adapt lessons to suit these children.

My top tips for future PGCE students

  • Be organised

I would tell any student who is considering teacher training to do their research, do the right subject and be organised.  Organisation is the biggest thing when you train to be a teacher.

I’ve been able to continue to play in ensembles because I have been organised with my time. I’m very aware that I need to be organised especially because I’m dyslexic, it can be hard but you can do it.

  • Be inspiring

There are a lot of kids that don’t have anything they are proud of.  When you’re teaching these kids, you’ve got to realise they haven’t had the chances you had but you can bring your experience into the classroom.

It’s important to show that if you’re not academically able or sporty, there is another option for you. Being a teacher, you can find another way and help them find out what they are good at. It’s rewarding as you get to see that kid who is told they’re not academic succeed in what they’re doing.

Postgraduate Routes into Teaching Open Day

Discover our wide range of postgraduate teacher training courses at our next Open Day on Saturday 13 October from 10am to 2pm at Augustine House, Canterbury.

Whether you are a graduate or thinking about changing your career we can help you find the best route to become a teacher.

Find out more and book your place.

You can view our range of courses in early years, primary, secondary and further education.